Asher Svidensky is one of those photographers whose photos you see once and remember for years. This is why I was thrilled to learn that he photographed Kukeri, often described as one of the last pagan rituals in Europe. For this photo project, Asher traveled to Razlog village in Bulgaria, photographing minacious-looking costumes of the Kukeri rituals. And as if the ritual itself wasn’t interesting enough – Asher’s story revolves around “The Monstress of Razlog,” a girl who’s a very unlikely star of this predominantly male tradition.
Asher is a freelance photographer specializing in art and documentary photography. In my opinion, he has a very distinctive style, and he has a strong passion for mixing his photography with storytelling. In 2019, before the world turned upside down, this passion brought him to Razlog, a remote village in western Bulgaria.
“I went there to expand my ongoing photography project on the topic of Successors of Traditions,” Asher writes. This series is about “the personal journeys of young individuals who will ultimately become the ‘torch carriers’ of ancient cultures & traditions,” as Asher explains. One of those youngsters is a girl named Ivana.
What is Kukeri?
Kukeri is an ancient ritual still present in various Slavic countries, including mine. It’s something like a carnival and it goes by different names in Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia, etc. It’s usually related to the celebration of spring, the Sun, and fertility. In relation to Christianity, the carnival takes place right before Great Lent, either Easter or Christmas. As for Bulgarian Kukeri, it takes place around the New Year, right before the Christmas Lent. During the Kukeri rituals, villagers cover their bodies with fur costumes and attach unique-shaped bells to their belts and around their shoulders. They cover their face with handcrafted wooden masks (often two-faced) and paint. This way they “transform” into monsters (kukeri) that chase the bad spirits away from their fields. The “kukeri” are also believed to provide a good harvest, health, and happiness to the village during the year. As Asher writes, Kukeri is considered to be “one of the only remaining practiced pagan rituals in Europe today.” of course, many other rituals can come to mind as you’re reading this. There’s the Midsummer celebration in Sweden or even Halloween. In fact, many “Christian” traditions are actually derived from ancient pagan rituals. Still, many rituals we know and practice today have been either fully modernized or deeply intertwined with Christianity. As for Kukeri, it still keeps a lot of its original form – even though some things have changed. And this change is precisely where our little hero, Ivana, comes to the scene.
Ivana, the Monstress of Razlog
Like many ancient traditions, Kukeri was primarily practiced by men, and women were forbidden from participating. However, what made this tradition more modern is that women are now allowed to take part as well. “More and more young girls like Ivana started showing interest in breaking social norms and actively joining their communities in the Kukeri rituals,” Asher writes. “This has created a new unique cultural shift that has been widely celebrated in recent years.” Ivana is an only child of Radoslav and Elena. Asher spent some time with the family and earned that the girl admires her father. Apparently, he adores her as well:
During his time in Razlog, Asher documented the readjusting of Ivana’s original monster costume, as it became too small.
A few weeks later, Ivana’s new and improved costume was ready: enlarged, decorated, and washed. And it was time for Kukeri. “Dressed up as gigantic white-haired monsters, bands of friends paraded together through the village’s streets, taking turns circling the main square,” Asher describes the event. Asher explains that little Ivana wasn’t the first girl in her village to wear a Kukeri costume. However, “her actions and the enthusiastic support of her parents have encouraged many other families to craft little monster costumes for their own daughters,” the photographer notes. Thanks to her distinctive character and strong devotion to the ritual, Ivana even became a local celebrity over the years. And how could she not? She’s adorable, yet so fierce and determined. In my opinion, children like this, with such support from their parents, can become anything they want.
This photo essay tells us an interesting cultural story of one of the few pagan rituals that still persist in Europe, no doubt about that. In fact, I really enjoyed that part! However, it also tells us an important human story about love and family; determination and devotion; and preserving your cultural heritage as well as your bonds with your community. And this is also how Asher describes it: Enjoy some more of Asher’s beautiful photos below, and make sure to follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for more of his fantastic work.
